1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an improved graphical user interface for a computer system. In particular, the present invention relates to a method, apparatus, and computer instructions for indicating, in a graphical user interface, the directory location of the currently visible elements while scrolling through a tree structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Directory tree controls are ubiquitous in computer programs today. Information stored in large data resources is structured to allow a user to easily view and access the information. The typical data structure used in these large data resources is a directory tree structure.
In a tree structure, data files are organized in a hierarchical format and displayed for viewing. Microsoft DOS, Windows, and the Macintosh OS are examples of operating systems whose file systems group files into directories. Directories are often referred to as folders. Directories may contain files or other directories. Within the tree structure, a user can select and manipulate files represented by members within the tree utilizing a mouse, keyboard or other input device. User selection via a mouse can be accomplished by “pointing and clicking” on a selectable feature on the computer display.
While the tree structure is useful and is quite prevalent within the operating systems and applications of most present day computers, as the number of files and directories within a computer that a user must manage is growing at a significant rate, it can become unwieldy for a user to understand the tree structure using currently known methods. The large memory capacity now available in modern personal computers has been utilized by application writers to create software with an increasing number of components. Further, the linking of external memory through interconnected computers has further increased the proliferation of the number of files, software tools and other system objects which are accessible to and often displayed in a tree format to a user.
FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation of a graphical user interface for a computer system showing a known tree structure. Window 100 in FIG. 1 illustrates a data resource that contains many branches and many levels to each branch. Four vertical dotted lines 102, 104, 106, 108, in left pane 110 of window 100 indicate that there are four ancestors for the folders currently in view. When a user is scrolling through the tree structure, window 100 does not provide any details as to where the user is in the directory structure. This situation is not a problem if a user selects a particular item or folder in the display, for once the item is selected, the selected item and its ancestors are shown in Address bar 112 (if present). However, if the user is scrolling through the large directory structure in search of a particular folder, a user may not know where in the data hierarchy the folders currently in view are located. Searching for a particular folder by selecting each folder in the display (e.g., pressing the down arrow button on the keyboard to select each folder, etc.) is cumbersome since the user may scroll only one item at a time. In addition, there may be a delay when selecting each item as the contents of each selection is displayed in right pane 114. Thus, as data tree controls are used to represent increasing larger sets of resources, a user may find that he or she cannot view the parent or grandparent node of the nodes currently in view.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have an improved method, apparatus, and computer instructions for indicating the current ancestor hierarchy in a graphical user interface while scrolling through the tree structure.